Debate on food, free range and egg quality...

[U_Stormcrow]

The important thing is not where a copy can be found in a digital library, but the quality of itscontentions, testing methodologies and conclusions - and, to some extent, the quality of the place where it was published (as a suggestor of quality). Here, that's the JBPC. Review of the titles of their articles over the last several years suggests they have no particular area of specialization (and thus no robust peer review process comprised of persons with specialized expertise in the field), and a rather "loose" standard of acceptance.

Some samples:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50353499_Do_We_Need_a_Scientific_Revolution

https://www.researchgate.net/public...l_poisoning_and_prevention_of_Covid-19_spread

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ic_Credibility_in_Research_and_Implementation

https://www.researchgate.net/public...quences_of_ignorance_about_aerotoxic_syndrome

(and a few years later)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277887304_Is_there_such_a_thing_as_aerotoxic_syndrome

(for a few years, the journal appears to have fixated on articles about aircraft cabin air quality and pilots)

Obviously, they've also published articles about more distinct, measurable, testable mechanical, biological, and physical processes - but in this case, I think the article needs to stand or fall on its own merits, rather than rely on the credibility of its publisher - and while its long on plausible sounding theories, none have been tested. I look forward to the follow up research.

 

[Badchickenpun]

I let the leaves from my tree get incorporated back into my own soil during the winter. I do roam downtown when people start bagging up their leaves, setting them out for the trash. I usually collect enough to mulch the garden and line the chicken run. We (I ) lucky in that we have an abundance of Live Oak trees in our area which shed their leaves in the springtime. That way I don't have to store as many to last a whole year.

I am thinking of mixing mulch with leaves and straw.
I can get quite few cottonwood tree leaves in the fall. Do you just fill up the run and let them be all winter, or do you store the leaves and add more periodically? Don't have great places to store them, I guess I could just pile them and tarp them down to keep excess moisture out.

 

[Wolfie2]

I don't like muddy eggs and chickens so I like to keep at least a little layer . My run is 16' x 32. I fill up the run and as the weather and birds break them down I will add more. Most of the time I can put out about 10 bags of leaves when the ground gets fairly bare. So far this year, I haven't had to add any since about March as we haven't had 2" total rain since.
PS: My birds are outside the run, in a fenced acre that they share with a few goats for several hours per day.

Do you just fill up the run and let them be all winter, or do you store the leaves and add more periodically?

 

[samanthaoverton]

I knew this was true for the roots. but I hadn't heard this about the leaves. Supposedly all nut bearing trees do this, but for some reason Black Walnut is a much worse offender.

Th

Its in My Acres of Weeds. I've not made a specific list, and add more each year, to see what will perform adequately in my soil, and self propogate.

I'll try and come up with a list later.

Thank you Ive read some of your article. But I didn't know you planted some of this stuff. I'm thinking about getting chickweed seed myself. As a human I've eaten it..pretty healthy stuff. But it only grows around my house and not in there area. Thank you for your time

 

[samanthaoverton]

MANY more items have sugar in them than you might think. One trick is that they use alternate names, not all of which people are familiar with. Here is one list of 61 names, though I've seen other lists with different counts:

61 Names for Sugar​

• Agave nectar
• Barbados sugar
• Barley malt
• Barley malt syrup
• Beet sugar
• Brown sugar
• Buttered syrup
• Cane juice
• Cane juice crystals
• Cane sugar
• Caramel
• Carob syrup
• Castor sugar
• Coconut palm sugar
• Coconut sugar
• Confectioner's sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Date sugar
• Dehydrated cane juice
• Demerara sugar
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Evaporated cane juice
• Free-flowing brown sugars
• Fructose
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• Glucose solids
• Golden sugar
• Golden syrup
• Grape sugar
• HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)
• Honey
• Icing sugar
• Invert sugar
• Malt syrup
• Maltodextrin
• Maltol
• Maltose
• Mannose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Muscovado
• Palm sugar
• Panocha
• Powdered sugar
• Raw sugar
• Refiner's syrup
• Rice syrup
• Saccharose
• Sorghum Syrup
• Sucrose
• Sugar (granulated)
• Sweet Sorghum
• Syrup
• Treacle
• Turbinado sugar
• Yellow sugar

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol..derived from various fruits veggies..

 

[TooCheep]

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol..derived from various fruits veggies..

Yeah. That is a separate category. Xylitol and other sugar alcohols (erythritol, maltitol, sorbitol and others) are frequently used in Atkins/Low Carb foods. It is a cheat because they claim it is a low carb sweetener, but these unhealthy low carb chemicals come with a cost- diarrhea if overeaten.

 

[samanthaoverton]

No kidding my nana was diabetic...and had a sense of humour.."Sam want some sugar free fudge?" It was pretty good...till later. She thought it was hysterical Another time she gave some sugar free hard candy to my mother (this was ages ago). She passed it on to my dad who was an infantry soldier. Him and his fellow soldiers were doing one of those miles long marches and were passing some candy around...you know the rest. Sounded like a bit from a comedy..

Yeah. That is a separate category. Xylitol and other sugar alcohols (erythritol, maltitol, sorbitol and others) are frequently used in Atkins/Low Carb foods. It is a cheat because they claim it is a low carb sweetener, but these unhealthy low carb chemicals come with a cost- diarrhea if overeaten.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Th

Thank you Ive read some of your article. But I didn't know you planted some of this stuff. I'm thinking about getting chickweed seed myself. As a human I've eaten it..pretty healthy stuff. But it only grows around my house and not in there area. Thank you for your time

Off the top of my head, I've planted:

White Clover
Yellow Clover
Crimson or Red Clover (I'd have to recheck which it was)
Flax
Hairy Vetch
Winter Peas
Red Sorrel
Millet (Green)
Amaranth
Buckwheat
Sorghum-Sudangrass Hybrid (some native saorghum volunteers gave me the idea)
Corn (died)
Sunflower (died)
Scribners Panic Grass
Little Bluestem
Bermuda grass
Bent grass
Perrenial Rye
some ornamental fountain grasses
an ornamental big bluestem (died)
Creeping Thyme
Fenugreek
Rape (never came up - but does well around here, so i did something wrong)
Several varieties of radish (still hanging on - barely - in a few spots as individual plants)
Rosemary (did great in TX, but all my plantings have died here - sometimes because the ducks stumbled thru them and broke all the stems)

Seasonally, I've planted an heirloom broccoli, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, various melons for them to eat.

Also have peaches, blueberries, some citrus, and a few varieties of grapes (not intended for the chickens, but...

Pretty certain I'm missing some things, and honestly, none of the grains have done well for me. Still a lot of effort taking out natives by hand to let the things I've seeded try and capture more of the pasture. But I'm making progress.

Oh, and because its not all practical, I put down some perrenial wildflower mix, of which the boneset, blanket flower, and black eyed susans have all done well. That **may** be the source of my toadflax as well.

 

[samanthaoverton]

Hey thanks I think it is neat you planted all of this stuff for a chicken field. I've been wanting to try more of a variety. Ive only done grass. I know a lot about weeds though because I used to forage and plan to take it up again. Hence wanting to plant chickweed.lol. Chickens love it but it loves shade and moisture.

Off the top of my head, I've planted:

White Clover
Yellow Clover
Crimson or Red Clover (I'd have to recheck which it was)
Flax
Hairy Vetch
Winter Peas
Red Sorrel
Millet (Green)
Amaranth
Buckwheat
Sorghum-Sudangrass Hybrid (some native saorghum volunteers gave me the idea)
Corn (died)
Sunflower (died)
Scribners Panic Grass
Little Bluestem
Bermuda grass
Bent grass
Perrenial Rye
some ornamental fountain grasses
an ornamental big bluestem (died)
Creeping Thyme
Fenugreek
Rape (never came up - but does well around here, so i did something wrong)
Several varieties of radish (still hanging on - barely - in a few spots as individual plants)
Rosemary (did great in TX, but all my plantings have died here - sometimes because the ducks stumbled thru them and broke all the stems)

Seasonally, I've planted an heirloom broccoli, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, various melons for them to eat.

Also have peaches, blueberries, some citrus, and a few varieties of grapes (not intended for the chickens, but...

Pretty certain I'm missing some things, and honestly, none of the grains have done well for me. Still a lot of effort taking out natives by hand to let the things I've seeded try and capture more of the pasture. But I'm making progress.

Oh, and because its not all practical, I put down some perrenial wildflower mix, of which the boneset, blanket flower, and black eyed susans have all done well. That **may** be the source of my toadflax as well.

 

[TooCheep]

Even in a suburban backyard type environment, I recommend planting clover in with your grass. The chickens do prefer it to grass and it is a nitrogen-fixer: it draws nitrogen out of the air and turns it into a natural fertilizer.